Mauricio Pochettino outlines Tottenham's plans for DeAndre Yedlin

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has stressed to FutbolMLS.com that the club will be handling the development of DeAndre Yedlin with care over the coming months.

Yedlin, 21, sealed a £2.5 million move to Tottenham in August following his impressive World Cup cameos, but remained with the Seattle Sounders for the rest of the MLS season as part of the agreement between the two sides.

After helping his hometown club clinch the US Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield titles, the US international made his permanent switch to north London last month, but is still to get close to a first-team appearance.

Nevertheless, Pochettino remains a huge proponent of Yedlin’s potential, having pushed to bring him over from Seattle this winter rather than next summer, but wants to give him some more time to adapt to life at White Hart Lane before throwing him into the first-team picture.

"We knew he was a player with great potential, who has already done interesting things in the MLS, and has even been in the last World Cup," the Argentine said. "So we decided to advance his arrival time and start working with him for a bit.

"DeAndre is newly arrived in London and, like all young players, requires a process of adaptation, to learn a new way, to know a new culture,"

"We have to go with it carefully, quietly, giving him precious time to settle both on and off the pitch and maybe, from there, to show his qualities.”

Having risen from the US college level to the Premier League in the space of just two seasons, Yedlin looks set for a bright future in the game considering his rapid progress, but it’s also clear that he is far from the finished product.

Perhaps still somewhat too raw for the English top-flight, Pochettino seems to be approaching his development in the right manner thus far and, given the former Southampton boss’s track record in developing emerging talent, fans should rest assured that he is in good hands.

Freddie Shires

Freddie is a freelance sports writer, having recently completed an MA in Sports Journalism at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham. With an especially keen interest in all things American sports-related, he has written extensively about the NFL, MLS and the U.S. national team for various sites.